Dr. Joseph S. Schwartzberg, is an Educational Consultant / Expert Witness who provides consultation and testimony on cases involving students with disabilities.

Dr. Schwartzberg was responsible for developing and administering legally compliant special education programs for the 14 districts of North San Diego County. For 13 years, he served as the Senior Director of the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education for the San Diego County Office of Education. For the 7 years prior, he was the Division Director for the Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).

Litigation Support - Dr. Schwartzberg provides expert witness services to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defense. He offers assistance with civil, family court, and due process (OAH) matters.

Richard L. Swanson, PhD is a former School Administrator, Principal and Superintendent with over 39 years of experience in Education. He earned a PhD in Social /Developmental Psychology from the School of Education at UC Berkeley and has been a driving force in successful negotiations, mediations and several high-profile litigations of key Educational Issues which include Sexual Harassment, Student Complaints, Teacher Grievances as well as Discipline, Dismissal and Release.

Dr. Swanson has worked directly with the Office of Civil Rights, the Department of Justice, the California Department of Education’s Fiscal office, the California State Controller and the California State Attorney General’s Offices. He speaks with articulate, persuasive and knowledgeable authority based solidly on his academic training and 39 years of practical experience. His credibility as an Expert Witness rests on 9 years as a teacher and instructional consultant, 12 years in the private sector as a manager/planner and financial executive and 18 years in school leadership as a principal and superintendent.

Dr. Swanson has written over 16 teachers’ guides, one book on finance and numerous published articles on educational topics. He has expertise in:

Virginia Rhodes, EdD has an extensive background in public schooling with over 35 years of experience in duty of care: teaching, administrative, hiring, supervision, evaluation and instruction in K-12 settings. Her work in research, and as a school board member in a large district, grounds her expertise in school policy and district and whole-school effectiveness.

As principal and policy-maker, Dr. Rhodes was known for her work in reclaiming failing high schools, including moving an Ohio high school from 8% passage on the state science test to 54.5% in 2 years, collaboratively, within a contractual environment.

Dr. Rhodes provides Expert Witness testimony and preparation services for districts and law firms. She has represented both plaintiff and defense. Dr. Rhodes' services are available nationally and internationally, as she is culturally competent and travels and speaks at conferences regularly. Previous cases have included student injury, student death, religious discrimination, race discrimination, wrongful termination, discrimination in hiring on basis of disability, sexual abuse, administrative supervision, teacher supervision, actions of paraprofessionals including teacher assistants and security guards, as well as school evaluations for domestic cases.

What does it take to improve science performance in an inner-city high school? Could a science "immersion" strategy change motivation and interest in science? How can we meet a key strategic goal of our urban district: "All students graduate and are prepared for postsecondary education, successful careers and productive citizenship."

Creative professionals in team-based work settings value work communications skills among their colleagues. As public schools create professional learning communities and experiment with teacher-led curriculum and program development, traditional interview processes may prove inadequate for these new collaborative environments. New and creative selection models may be needed to enable teacher or other professional teams to choose candidates with the 21st century skills needed for success. In public sector environments, work rules are often highly developed and professionals are entitled to interview. Qualifications, training, experience and seniority as determinants often get reduced to transfer rights using seniority as the main or only criteria. This trend detracts from creating a competitive environment in which to attract & retain a high-quality teaching staff. Solutions can be found within existing contract parameters, however, if the attributes necessary to teach 21st Century skills are actually required to be demonstrated, not just described, in the interview process.

"All children can learn," is a catchphrase currently making the rounds in education circles, particularly in staff development activities (Pankratz & Petroski, 2003). De facto learning theory challenges the underlying assumptions of this phrase by examining how it is that learning in schools takes place. Using theoretical foundations of Dewey, Maslow, and Vygotsky, this essay will explore the fact that all children are, in fact, learning all the time, regardless of the actions of teachers, the content of the curriculum, or educational policy and practice.

Critical to a dynamic STEM school is a high level of instructional rigor. While this is true in all STEM schools, it is a particular challenge in those programs that serve populations inexperienced with high levels of rigor in their previous coursework.

Establishing a STEM High School (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics), and the Aiken Environmental, Ohio's first public environmental high school proved to be successful strategies to increase student engagement and raise standardized scores in science. High-poverty urban students from declining academic and disciplinary environments produced significant gains on science test results and credit attainment towards graduation. Using multiple overlapping rigor and SEL strategies, students experienced "science immersion," project-based learning, and a social-emotional curriculum that emphasized personal development and team/community-building skills.

J. Patrick Murphy has over 40 years of experience in Law nforcement, Security Management, and Corporate Loss Prevention. Mr. Murphy's background as a Fortune 50 company security director provides a strategic view of operations, security planning, and liability. His continuing education in the area of security case law and his unique approach to investigating cases make him a valuable Security Expert Witness to any litigation team. His hands on approach and advice during the discovery phase of the case can often be pivotal in determining the ultimate outcome.

Authors note: I am a nightclub security expert witness. I've never worked in a bar. What qualifies me as an expert is my decades-long experience in security management. Security personnel are known under many different titles such as, most commonly, bouncers but they are also called ushers, greeters, door men, crowd control specialists, etc. The truth, however, is that there are basic tenants to any security program, regardless of business environment, and bars and nightclubs are no different with the exception of alcohol. Bouncer = Security.

Employee theft is nearly 50% of the losses for retailers. It's a $600 Billion crime across the nation for all businesses and growing. Employers are sometimes reluctant to discuss this topic or even acknowledge its existence but to adopt that approach will lead to financial disaster.

James E. Shaw, PhD, is a Gang and Child Abuse Expert with over 15 years of experience. Dr. Shaw is a former Public School Law Consultant for the Los Angeles County Office of Education and a former Director of Child Welfare for the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District.

Federal Appointment: Dr. Shaw is currently on the Faculty of the United States Courts Office of Defender Services Training Branch.

Superior Court Appointment: Since 2003, Dr. Shaw has been, and is, a member of the Panel of Experts of the Los Angeles Superior Court, and works in Superior Courts nationwide, as a Gang expert.

Professional School Appointment: Dr. Shaw is on the Faculty of the California Southern University and teaches doctoral candidates (Psy.D.) in the university’s Behavioral Sciences Department.

Author / Speaker - Dr. Shaw is the author of the media-praised book, Jack and Jill, Why They Kill, based on his four year in-person/in-prison research on 103 girls and boys incarcerated for murder and homicide. Referred to on CNN as "the smart answer for today's troubled times," his book is used in universities and police academies nationwide. Dr. Shaw's forthcoming book is entitled GANGrene: Youth Terrorism USA .

A member of the professional speaker circuit, Dr. Shaw has worked with the Jodi Solomon Speakers Bureau since 2002. Dr. Shaw is also a frequent guest on NBC, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. He was an invited keynote speaker at the Columbine High School memorial ceremony in honor of the slain victims.

Megyn Kelly Interview on FOX News Re Newtown, CT School Shooting

Litigation Support - Dr. Shaw is a Gang Expert available to the Prosecution and Defense Bars. He specializes in helping attorneys attain their client-objectives, as (a) member of the Criminal defense team that ensures clients' Constitutional rights to a fair trial; and (b) a member of plaintiff or defendant teams in Civil cases where clients are seeking the attainment of objectives at settlement or trial.

It is a brand-new school year: 2011-2012. If there is any school superintendent in the nation who currently operates without formalized school safety plans in place (quite apart from the noticeable but ignored "thou-shalt-nots" festooned on campus walls, doors and fences), s/he needs to regard-as a wake-up scream-the thunderous allegations of negligence, child endangerment, foreseen traumatic event, breach of duty of care, sexual molestation, dereliction of duty, and reckless disregard hurled by a passing parade of aggrieved and angry parents, as they will set the pace nationwide in the filing of future lawsuits over the on-campus dangers and subsequent injuries and traumas, of various kinds and degrees, to their children.

On June 14, 2013, the nation paused to pray and remember the unspeakably horrific shooting, a massacre that claimed 26 lives, on December 14, 2012, at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown Connecticut. The cruel irony, as legions of the country's experts, myself included, continue to engage in differential diagnoses and soul-searching for answers as to who and what went wrong, is that Sandy Hook Elementary School probably could not have done anything more, different or better, to protect its students. Short of constructing a walled-in campus inside of which students would receive provisions and other necessities from the outside.

Three friends of mine, all working expert witnesses, called me to recount their experiences with private investigators who interviewed them for prospective cases. One complained that the private investigator "asked me if I could stand up to a Daubert Hearing

The unspeakable happened at Virginia Tech University, on April 16, 2007, reminding us all that murder at school has "graduated" from the campuses of high school to the hallowed halls of university. Thirty-two students went to school to get educated and, instead, got executed

One wintry afternoon, a San Francisco-area attorney called me to ask if she could enlist my expertise for an assault and personal injury case involving a large high school where her teen-aged client had been viciously brutalized

Late one night, my telephone rang, and on the other end was a high-profile criminal defense attorney with whom I have worked on gang cases and other kinds of juvenile justice proceedings. He said he had to meet me for lunch the following day

Dr. James E. Shaw, "the only researcher allowed inside some of the country's state youth prisons to conduct four-year interviews of children who killed,” brings, based on his professional case files, this novel featuring teenage Candela McQueen. Candela gets her life back together in state youth prison and emerges as an adult parolee to become lead singer of the hip-hop group JEZEBEL, and an international mega-celebrity. Her fan base, the "Great Dame Fan Club," is enormous. Diva Candela McQueen's thrilling and powerful story is an odyssey from love, trust, lust, money and betrayal, to forgiveness and redemption, as she overcomes one obstacle after another and keeps her eyes on the prize, winning against the odds.

Background Experience - Dr. Kraizer was on the ground floor of the child abuse prevention field in the early ‘80s, working with the C. Henry Kempe National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect and founding the Coalition for Children. She has written many articles, books and curricula that address recognition, prevention and reporting of child abuse (including sexual, physical, emotional and neglect). She also has expertise in the areas of bullying, school safety, special education, and duty to supervise in a wide variety of settings.

Working with schools, religious organizations, community groups and treatment facilities, Dr. Kraizer has a deep and historically accurate understanding of the standard of care, policies and procedures, training, and supervision consistent with protecting children as they have evolved over time.

Dr. Kraizer has extensive experience in cases involving child abuse and bullying in youth serving organizations and institutional settings (i.e. schools, churches, foster care, youth groups, day care, treatment centers, residential facilities and hospitals), failure to properly train and supervise staff, failure to supervise children, child injury and death cases, abuse by teachers, clergy or staff members and child-on-child abuse. She is qualified to assess standard of care, policies, procedures, best practices and questions of negligence.

Litigation Support - Since 1992, Dr. Kraizer has worked nationally for plaintiffs and defendants alike. Understanding the issues on both sides, she is able to review your case and advise you on the strength of the evidence, areas for further discovery, deposition and trial preparation. As a forensic expert, she can assist you in asking the right questions to make informed decisions about each case.

This book offers strategies on the latest forms of bullying, like cyber-bullying via instant message and networking sites. With anecdotes throughout, it book also teaches how to successfully approach another parent or a school about bullying.

It's the most urgent and highly publicized issue facing America's family: how to teach our children to protect themselves in any situation. Based on the author's successful education workshop, which has been in operation since 1969 and has educated more than 50, 000 parents and children nationwide, The Safe Child Book gives parents effective and nonthreatening techniques for teaching children how to protect themselves without making them afraid.

Jeffrey A. Sugar, MD has been a practicing Psychiatrist for over 20 years. Dr. Sugar is board certified both in Child and General Psychiatry. He is Past President of the Southern California Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at USC, and has been an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA.

Dr. Sugar is the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trauma Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA where he sees patients, teaches psychiatry, and performs research. He is Attending Psychiatrist in both Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Clinics at USC. He teaches child and general psychiatrists-in-training and medical students on topics ranging from Trauma, Adversity, and Dissociation to Psychotherapy theory and methods.

Dr. Sugar was the founding director of the Hathaway Children’s Clinical Research Institute where he performed funded research on the effects of interpersonal child trauma. Dr. Sugar has presented at national and international meetings on child and adolescent Trauma and Dissociation. Director, Child Psychiatry Trauma Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine ..

Dr. Sugar has been worked with the legal industry since 1988. Qualified in Superior court, he has been retained over 40 times as an expert in a broad range of child and general psychiatric cases, for both Plaintiff and Defense. His services include:

Consultation Regarding Psychiatric Injury, Diagnosis, Treatment

Record Review and Opinion

Psychiatric Interview and Mental Status Evaluation

Expert testimony

Dr. Sugar's litigation support is available to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. His Areas of Expertise include:

We examine the consumer-welfare implications of Google's project to scan a large proportion of the world's books into digital form and to make these works accessible to consumers through Google Book Search (GBS). In response to a class action alleging copyright infringement, Google has agreed to a settlement with the plaintiffs, which include the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers.

Dr. Jane K. McNaught, PhD is a locally and nationally recognized Board Certified Psychological Forensic Expert specializing in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with adults and children. Over the course of her more than 30 years of practice, she has worked with Defense and Plaintiff attorneys and has also been a Court appointed expert. Dr. McNaught has administered more than 2,000 psychological test batteries and testified on over 500 occasions as a forensic expert in the areas of: Civil, Criminal, and Family Law. She also provides trial consultation for attorneys. Dr. McNaught has further been qualified and testified as an expert in PTSD, for both the U.S. Army as well as the U.S. Navy and . In addition she has testified as an expert in both District and Federal court.

Dr. McNaught practices in the areas of Civil, Criminal, and Family Law cases involving trauma to both adults and children. In the Civil area, Dr. McNaught is frequently hired as an expert when there are allegations of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She also testifies in Employment cases involving Age or Sexual Harassment where PTSD is alleged. She has further testified in the following types of civil cases where PTSD is alleged: motor vehicle injuries; dog bite and amputation. Medical malpractice; Wrongful Death; and Infant death cases. Dr. McNaught has been hired in cases of alleged sexual misconduct within institutional settings such as schools, Churches including the Catholic Church, Treatment Centers, and hospitals.

In the Criminal area, Dr. McNaught is hired by both the Prosecution as well as Defense in cases involving Sexual Misconduct. She also conducts evaluations of Defendants in criminal cases where underlying psychological conditions may impact sentencing. Dr. McNaught has further been obtained as an expert to evaluate the credibility and reliability of statements obtained from alleged victims of sexual assault. When doing so, Dr. McNaught addresses the following: recantation, memory research, standard of care in interviewing victims of sexual abuse.

In the area of Family Law, Dr. McNaught specializes in high conflict divorce and conducts Custody Evaluations as well as Evaluations regarding: Relocation; Endangerment; Factitious Disorder by Proxy; Parental Capacity; and Parental Alienation.

Physical traumas such as a serious burn injury can be profoundly traumatic. Serious burns result in sudden unanticipated trauma related to the individual's exposure to a potentially life-threatening experience. One day the burn victim begins their day like any other, and by the end of the day the burn victim's life may be changed forever by the traumatic event experienced. A Forensic Psychological Expert utilizes well respected psychological tests to assess the emotional impact of such injuries. The psychological tests employed are statistically reliable and valid. The choice of valid and reliable psychological tests employed by a Forensic Psychologist are similar to tests used by a physician to diagnose diabetes or other medical disorders. Such tests offer norms that compare the individual in question to a large normative sample, in order to evaluate the burn victim's psychological functioning compared to that of the "normal" person.

When divorce occurs in the family, an inevitable loss occurs in the lives of the parents as well as children. Positive adjustment to divorce comes when both of the parents as well as the children develop healthy coping methods to deal with the loss. This enables both parents and children to move forward with their new lives. Unfortunately, many parents who suffer from their own disturbed attachment history or mental health issues, are unable to put aside their anger and constructively cope with the loss. In such cases, parents often undermine the children's relationship with the other parent, in order to express their own unresolved parental anger and sadness about the divorce.

Formerly this disorder has been referred to as Munchausen by Proxy and later, Factitious Disorder by Proxy. In the current version of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic Criteria, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-V), the disorder is referred to as Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another, (DSM-V 300.19). The perpetrator and not the victim is given this diagnosis. The victim is given an abuse diagnosis.

Forensic Psychologists can assist both Plaintiff and Defense lawyers in their assessment of the emotional damages related to traumatic injuries with adults as well as children. PTSD in children and teens is caused by events that have caused them or someone else to be killed or badly injured. Not all children develop PTSD after a traumatic injury. 3-15% of girls and 1-6% of boys develop PTSD in response to a traumatic experience. Rates of PTSD are higher for certain types of trauma survivors. Nearly 100% get PTSD if they see a parent being killed or if they see a sexual assault. 90% of sexually abused children develop PTSD; 77% of children who see a school shooting develop PTSD; and 35% of children who see violence in the area they live, develop PTSD (National Center for PTSD in Children and Teens).

Amputation is an injury involving loss of function, loss of sensation, and loss of body image. It is not surprising amputees often suffer psychological difficulties following such an event. Further, these psychological difficulties can also result in long term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for the amputee. Often these psychological injuries and resultant PTSD can be difficult to explain to a jury. The forensic expert's presentation of psychological testing assessing potential PTSD is one part of proving or disproving damages. However, the forensic expert can better assist either the Defense or Plaintiff's attorney by addressing specific functions in the amputee that have been affected by the injury.

Professional consultation for schools, attorneys and individuals. Court-qualified education administration, liability, school review and special education expert. More than 30 years experience in education. National practice.

When risk is managed, injury, student death, and resulting litigation are less likely to occur. All too frequently, it is only after a tragedy that officials look back and ask, "How could this have been avoided?" Risk management is a far-reaching topic, but when focused on the professional standard of care in educational and other child and youth-serving organizations, it comes down to protecting the safety of participants in the care and custody of a school or other organization.

Standard of care is a general expression of what constitutes care in professions such as medicine, nursing, education, or child care administration. In schools and other agencies responsible for the care and supervision of children, the professional standard of care is the ethical or legal responsibility of a professional to exercise the level of care, diligence, and skill that other professionals in the same discipline would apply in the same or similar circumstances. This, coupled with statutory requirements and case law, defines the care that an educational professional is responsible for providing to children which includes protection from child sexual abuse.

Title IX, the law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in public education programs, is also relevant in application of professional standards within the context of private school sexual abuse and harassment and their response to alleged incidents. Every school that accepts federal funding for any program or service it provides must adhere to Title IX. Most public schools, including charter schools and specialized education service commissions, accept federal assistance and, therefore, must comply with Title IX. Compliance requirements include, among other things, the development of policies prohibiting sexual harassment and assault, prompt and thorough investigation of complaints, training of staff, and the assignment of a person who oversees implementation of the law.

Parents are responsible for the protection and care of their children, and there may be legal consequences if a parent negligently fails to take reasonable steps to protect his or her child from harm. As with parents, entities and agencies charged with the care and supervision of children are responsible for the protection of their health, safety, and well-being. A partial list of such entities or programs include daycare centers, preschools, summer camps, YMCA centers, K–12 private and public schools, private schools that provide residences for students, and residential centers for adjudicated youth. When a child is placed into the care and custody of such an organization, that entity assumes control and supervision over the child comparable to parental care - and is held to even a higher professional standard of care established within the field of education.

Under Title IX, for a school to be held liable for denying an educational opportunity to a student who was sexually harassed or abused, the court must be convinced that the school had actual notice of prohibited behavior and that it acted deliberately indifferent to it. Often, it is a challenge to define what "actual notice" is and whether the school had such notice. If the school has no information on which to act to end harassment or abuse, it cannot be determined to be indifferent. In some of the cases we have worked on, however, there has been some level of notice that, if investigated, would have confirmed that harassment or abuse was taking place. Such notice could be a teacher hearing a rumor about a sexual relationship between another teacher and a student, a staff member watching a student speak in a sexually inappropriate way to another student, or the school receiving notice that that an off-campus sexual violence event is creating retaliation at school. Examples such as these may constitute actual notice, depending on the circumstances.

Whenever children are involved in events on school premises, there is always the possibility of school district liability for incidents that happen on school grounds or at school-sponsored events. This foreseeability gives rise to a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent a child from being harmed. Public school districts may find themselves liable for injury - not only for those suffered by their own students, but also for those incurred by children who are invited onto school grounds, who attend separate programs on school grounds, and even those who are considered trespassers.

Schools, including K-12 schools, colleges, and universities, have a responsibility to protect their students from harm. Harm includes the inability to benefit fully from education as a result of being in a hostile school environment. The politically motivated rhetoric and actions seen in schools during and after the presidential campaign can create a hostile school environment for which schools can be held responsible.

Schools, after-school programs, summer camps, sunday schools, daycares and other agencies that supervise children are responsible for student safety of children in their care. Failing to apply the same attention to ensuring that non-licensed individuals, such as volunteers, meet the same standards as teachers and other paid staff can place students - and ultimately a school, district, or other agency - at risk. When the history of a volunteer or chaperone on an overnight school trip includes something that would raise a red flag but the school is unaware of it, school officials are not able to make an informed decision about whether or not that person should be allowed to interact with children.

Protection of the health, safety, and well-being of children who participate in recreational activities at a summer camp, summer school program, or community and private recreation centers should be the standard operating procedure of all those who provide these services. The standard of care owed to children who participate in organized or sponsored recreational activities such as sports, dance, swimming, rock climbing and variety of other activities at a camp or other agency must be consistent with professional standards in the field. Ingraining standardized practices and responsible planning and supervision into the work habits of all employees will help to protect the employees and the agency from activity injury liability and costly litigation.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program, including in colleges and universities, if those programs or activities associated with the institution receive federal funding. Under Title IX, sex discrimination includes sexual harassment, sexual battery, sexual assault, rape and other sexual violence at school, college or university campuses. Any behavior that disrupts a student's access to an educational opportunity or benefit constitutes a violation of Title IX. Recent media coverage has brought to light the controversy over the six-month sentence for a former Stanford University student for the rape of a student on campus. There has been outrage over the sentence, and that outrage might be justified, given schools' responsibilities in similar cases.

Some of our most vulnerable children are relegated to a life away from parents, family, and their school to live where other adults take the place of their parents and are responsible for their custody or care - legally defined as in loco parentis. This occurs when children are placed in residential centers for the treatment of mental illness, schools for the deaf and blind, or similar facilities for children who require extensive medical care and management.

Nationwide, 7.6 million students participate in interscholastic athletics, according to U.S. News and World Report. Keeping them safe is critically important to avoid school liability and sports injury lawsuits. And when sports injury occurs, schools may be found responsible if they failed to take reasonable precautions and supervision of students in order to prevent sports injury. Parents send their children to school with the implicit expectation that schools will do whatever is necessary to keep them safe whether in the classroom or on the football field.

As difficult as it might be to accept and understand, abuse of children is occurring at an alarming rate in our nation's schools, daycare centers, camps, and other institutions. Even with state laws that require child abuse reporting and institutional policies that address sexual abuse prevention, identification, and reporting, abuse is not going away. More civil lawsuits are filed with each passing year, and schools and other organizations are not always appropriately responding to this epidemic.

In the wake of recent incidences of gun violence, school safety and security has become an increasingly pressing concern in the United States and Canada. Schools, summer camps, daycare centers, and other agencies charged with the safety of children have a duty to protect them, and their ability to do so depends on solid policies, training, and appropriate response to security threats. Laws, regulations, and internal policies designed to shield children from harm may be developed proactively in response to a risk assessment or reactively in response to an event that caused injury to a child. Both are valid options in today's climate of terroristic threats to school safety and security. Inaction is not. Schools and other child-centered programs must consider and develop appropriate responses to this new dynamic.

Risk of personal injury to children is reduced when activities, facilities, equipment, personnel, and supervision are brought into compliance with "standards." There are several sources of standards. Some standards are mandated by law through statutes. Additional standards are set forth by oversight authorities, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Camping Association, the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations, or the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, to name a few. Other standards involve the customary professional practice of those conducting such activities. Ignorance of such standards is no excuse for failing to comply and schools and agencies with children have a duty to be proactive about implementing standards in order to prevent student injury.

Many school-aged children have medical conditions about which teachers, nurses, and others who are responsible for their health, safety, and well-being should know. If not addressed in the right way by administrators, teachers, or other officials, these conditions can result in a catastrophic incident, not to mention costly litigation. A student with a known heart defect, for instance, is vulnerable in a physical education class if the teacher is not informed of the child's condition and does not institute appropriate precautions or prepared to respond in a medical emergency. If cafeteria personnel in a daycare center know that a child has a peanut allergy but fail to supervise the child appropriately, the child can go into shock if she is allowed to sit at a table where another student is eating peanut butter. In situations like these, if a plan for the child's care was either not in place or developed but not communicated to the staff, the child might suffer irreparable harm - or even die.

In my profession as an education administration and student supervision expert, I have observed that residential schools and boarding schools present a higher duty than day schools to supervise children and a greater opportunity for the school to be found liable for child abuse and injury. When children are living and learning in a program 24/7, staff must demonstrate not only a professional standard of care, but also a reasonable and prudent parent standard of care. Although related, these standards are distinct and must be appropriately and reasonably applied in a setting where staff serves as surrogate parents and others serve as teachers, counselors, and psychologists. When a child is sexually assaulted, administered unnecessary corporal punishment, or is injured or dies in a residential school, both of these standards need to be addressed.

The first responsibility of educators and those who supervise children in residential programs, day care centers, before- and after-school programs, and other settings is to make sure that these programs foster learning and care in a safe environment. Asking third graders to move a cart with a heavy TV on top, inadequate staff instruction in safe techniques to quell disruptive students, not carefully checking that the door to the pool closes and locks the way it is supposed to, excessive discipline, playground aides talking among themselves but failing to pay attention to the children, not providing a sufficient number of nighttime supervisors in a dormitory, and a school police officer not trained on how to interact with children with behavioral disorders - any of these circumstances can lead to student injury at school or death of a child and high litigation costs. The overriding professional standard of care is to protect children's health, safety, and well-being. Under this umbrella fall the development and implementation of policies, adequate staff training, and a level of supervision reasonably calculated to keep children safe.

In settings where children are supervised by adults, we often think about traditional settings, such as schools and summer camps. But these are not the only places where children participate in activities that require adult supervision and which can result in child injury cases. Some nontraditional settings include resort and vacation day care programs, community recreation centers, church-sponsored events, and Boy and Girl Scout activities, among others.

For schools, summer camps, and day care centers, one of the key functions of student supervision is to identify dangerous conditions and then either stop the activity or warn of the danger. The supervisor must take appropriate action for the protection of the children. Duty to warn contemplates both having knowledge of danger (actual or constructive notice) and having time to communicate it. Field trip injuries are very common and there is an equal duty to protect when children are off campus but still under school supervision, such as when children are on a school-sponsored trip. Excursions off school property present special challenges. Careful planning ahead of the trip, knowing about potential safety hazards, and creating a plan to avoid or mitigate them can help to protect a child from field trip injuries and a school from liability lawsuits.

Keeping children safe in schools, preschool and daycare programs, summer camps, on playgrounds, and other locations is a primary responsibility of those who administer such programs. When a child becomes injured and the claim is negligent supervision, a school or other agency will have a greater chance of prevailing when it has clear policies and enforces them. In school premises liability lawsuits plaintiffs are more likely to prevail when a facility fails to maintain its campus and equipment, does not have a regular inspection plan, and does not instruct and supervise students in the safe and appropriate use of equipment.

Employment decisions in public and private schools should be based on qualifications, performance, merit, and seniority, rather than race, national origin, gender, religion, age, or disability. Teachers and other school personnel can sue for employment discrimination if they are wrongfully dismissed or demoted, if they were prevented from initially obtaining a job, or not appropriately accommodated for a disability or medical condition. Most employment discrimination violates either state or federal law, and legal protections are found in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Additionally, two primary federal statutes prohibit disability discrimination in employment: the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

When child abuse is alleged to have taken place in a school, daycare facility, preschool program, summer camp, or other entity responsible for the supervision and safety of children, there is always the possibility that the entity may be liable if negligence can be established. Schools and other entities with a duty to protect children often become embroiled in lawsuits alleging that breach of this duty was a proximate cause of a child's injuries. Though laws vary, states adopt a broad definition of child abuse, including physical and emotional abuse, neglect and abandonment, incest, sexual molestation, and sexual exploitation. Typically, a child abuse report must be made to a designated state agency responsible for child protective services when a person, in his or her official capacity, suspects or has reason to believe that a child has been abused or neglected, or knows that a child has been subjected to conditions that could reasonably be expected to result in harm.

School coaches have a duty to protect athletes from harm, including emotional or physical harm that may result from locker room hazing. High school hazing in athletics has many beginnings - the most prominent being an attitude of superiority among senior athletes and the belief that a weaker or younger athlete must be subjected to harassment to "make the grade" or to be "good enough" to be on the team. This mentality, if left unchecked and if students are allowed to participate in hazing behaviors, eventually can result in even more serious misconduct, such as sexual harassment and serious personal injury.

When a student personal injury in a public school triggers litigation, plaintiff and defendant attorneys must address the concept of governmental immunity. In general, governmental immunity shields public schools from tort litigation and liability. Governmental immunity is not universally applicable, however, depending on how the facts of a specific case accord with state or provincial laws. This article is about how governmental immunity in public school cases might be pierced and how schools can determine whether governmental immunity applies in school liability cases.

Millions of children participate in programs operated by daycare centers, nursery schools, and camps across the United States and Canada. The most important aspect of childcare is the safety and supervision of children. When a teacher, recreation leader, camp counselor, or other supervisor is engaged in activities involving young children, there is a duty to protect the child from physical harm, sexual abuse, and other forms of personal injury. A breach of duty to protect the health, safety, and welfare of a child that leads to injury may result in daycare negligence lawsuits.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a "Dear Colleague" letter to college and university administrators about implementation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in regards to campus sexual assault cases. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities in schools that receive federal funding. The letter explains that schools are required to develop and distribute policies regarding sexual harassment, designate a Title IX coordinator to oversee the school's duties, train staff and students in sexual harassment and violence issues, and establish an investigation procedure and an adjudication process. The letter did not articulate specific procedural safeguards, rules for the examination of evidence, or guidelines for the conduct of adjudication or hearing processes for cases of campus sexual violence.

Harassment in schools can occur when a student is discriminated against on the basis of national origin, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender, or other identifiable class. A school district may be found liable for harassment if there is no strong, widely disseminated, and consistently enforced policy prohibiting it and no effective complaint procedure is in place. Schools can also be held responsible for the consequences stemming from a failure to take immediate, appropriate steps to respond to a complaint about harassment or bullying, terminate it, and discipline the offending party, be it an employee or another student. When a school has knowledge that a hostile environment exists but does not act on this knowledge, it can be viewed as giving tacit approval to this activity. In such cases, school districts have been found liable for enabling hostile school environment that prevents students from learning.

The relationship between private schools and their students is very different than the one that exists when a student is in a public school. In private schools, the relationship is contractual in nature. The contract is expressed or implied in written documents, such as promotional literature, student applications, and student and staff handbooks. By contrast, the relationship between public schools and students is governed by federal and state statues, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Title IX. In public schools, students are afforded constitutional, substantive, and procedural protections that are generally not applicable in a private school. In private schools, academic and conduct issues involving students raise contractual, as opposed to constitutional, issues.

Injuries are a part of intramural and extramural sports and recreation programs. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, high school athletes account for 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits, and 30,000 hospitalizations each year. There's a certain level of risk assumed by a child who participates in any physical activity, but the school or agency has a general duty to protect children from harm to avoid school sports injury lawsuits. Dereliction of that duty may result in any number of situations that a jury may consider negligent, such as failure to develop and implement appropriate policies and procedures for supervision, poor maintenance of equipment, or inadequate instruction of children about the dangers inherent in their activity.

Student injury or death often brings negative attention to a school. In fact, the first thing often reported publicly is an injured party's claim that an incident stemmed from the negligence or misconduct of a staff member responsible for a child's safety - a teacher, coach, or bus driver, for instance. But a student injury or death can result from any number of situations. These might range from school-related action or inaction, such as a breach of school security or failure to follow a student's medical orders, to a student's own actions and choices triggering a contributory negligence defense.

For schools, daycare centers, after-school programs, and camps, children with disabilities often present significant supervisory challenges. If these children's needs are not adequately addressed and a child is seriously injured or killed, negligent supervision may be viewed as a proximate cause. But what constitutes reasonable supervision of children with behavioral or physical disabilities? It depends on the unique needs of the student and a school's standards for protecting that student from harm.

This article reviews recent legislation and how that legislation effects compliance with student IEPs in regards to the equipment that can improve a student's ability to learn and interact with teachers, family, and friends. The article details the recommendation of devices and the school's responsibility in regards to their procurement, usage, and maintenance.

Recently, a Seattle student with cerebral palsy was awarded $300,000 in damages from her school after years of harassment by another student was allowed to take place. Her harasser regularly called her names, blocked her wheelchair's path with furniture and manipulated her chair's electronic controls so it rammed into walls. It was not until the harasser caused his target serious physical injury and property damage that school officials responded formatively to his hostility by suspending him for three days.

Abstract: This special paper introduces the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, describes the school district's obligation to advocate for students with disabilities, reviews student rights created by the law, defines key terms, and takes the reader, step by step, through the procedural protections provided by the regulations.

Abstract: Examples of consultations serve as an illustration of how a consulting education expert can assist lawyers who are working on school and education related cases. One example deals with a special education dispute involving inclusion and the other deals with liability for student injury and a settlement of $850,000.

The tragic realities of the school killings in Littleton, Colorado, and similar instances of violence involving today's youth, have educators, policymakers and communities searching for causes as well as methods of prevention. Hit lists, posted on Internet sites and plans made by high school students to "get even" when they are teased are symptoms of what we already know: Bullying, teasing and discrimination are big problems for American children.

Our nation's schools pay millions of dollars annually in damages to school children injured in class, sexually assaulted by teachers, and harassed by fellow students. Unnecessary risks in schools can be controlled to protect the safety of students, faculty and support staffs and to eliminate costly litigation and settlements.

Even the most amicable custody arrangements can sour over school choice. As more people move about, the issue of where their children will attend school, and what that school offers compared to their current situation, is becoming more significant in family law. This article examines ways an education expert can assist with objective evaluations of school programs.

The educator as a consulting and testifying expert has become one of the most important tools that an lawyer can use in the dispute resolution process involving schools. When the consultant becomes an expert witness the relationship changes. This article explains how the expert educator assesses merits of a case, and provides consultation to lawyers who are working on education and school related cases.

Now that the administrative law judge ordered Heather into the regular fourth-grade classroom, none of the teachers want to have her, Maybe we shouldn't have filed for a due process hearing against the school. I think it backfired on us.

This article explores common situations regarding sexual harassment in the school setting. It also discusses exploitation of sexual power either by teachers or by students in an inappropriate relationship. Schools and its employees have a duty to train their students on their sexual harassment policies and to report any inappropriate behavior.

Cyberbullying is one of the fastest-growing problems facing families and the people responsible for protecting our children: school administrators, lawmakers and law enforcement officials. Cyberbullying is such a new frontier, the laws that define and police it are, in many places, weak to nonexistent. Its "sudden" pervasiveness and severity is now shocking people into action as evidenced by the rash of suicides making national news and the resulting public outcry.

The safety of children is of the utmost concern to school board members, administrators, and teachers. Accidents do happen, of course, but you must do everything you can to make sure that the students in your care are not hurt.

Bullying used to be thought of as an unpleasant rite of passage, but now psychologists are realizing that it inflicts real harm. As many as 40 percent of children report that they’ve experienced episodes of bullying at school or online through their school community. School safety expert Edward Dragan argues that parents need to be proactive in looking out for their children’s social well being at school. From his many decades as a Board of Education insider, he argues that schools are self-protective entities and reluctant to address bullying themselves.

William R. Dikel, MD, is a board certified Adult, Adolescent, and Child Psychiatrist with over 30 years experience providing expertise to professionals in all of the systems that serve individuals who have mental health disorders.

Dr. Dikel served as a Past President of the Minnesota Psychiatric Society and the MN Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and a Lifetime Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Litigation Support - Dr. Dikel works with defense and plaintiff's attorneys in civil and criminal justice cases, and provides consultation and expert witness services to professionals and clients in the Education, Insurance, Public Health, Social Services, Corrections and Mental Health systems. Dr. Dikel is skilled in communicating complex psychiatric issues to laypersons, and this skill has proven to be very useful in consultations with attorneys and in deposition and courtroom testimony. Dr. Dikel has provided over 25 years of psychiatric care to severely mentally ill clients in community mental health clinics.

From anxiety and depression to ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, behavior disorders, substance use disorders, and psychoses, this practical book provides essential information on how mental health disorders are diagnosed and treated, how they tend to manifest at school, and how they affect students’ emotions, behaviors, and ability to learn. It explains why traditional behavioral interventions are often unsuccessful, and describes effective classroom interventions that teachers can use to provide optimal educational experiences.

David K. Easlick, Jr., is a Hazing and Risk Management Specialist and a member of the State Bar of Michigan for over 30 years.

Mr. Easlick was the Executive Director of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity for over 20 years. In such role, he became familiar with just about all outrageous conduct by undergraduate young men on the college campus. He spent years combating it, and attempting to correct and eliminate it. His experience includes Hazing, Binge Consumption, Sexual Misconduct, or other Risk Management Violations.

Mr. Easlick has been a member of the Fraternity Executives Association for 30 years, an affiliate member of the North American Inter-Fraternity Conference, an associate member of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors, a business member of the Association for Student Conduct Administration, and a past member of FIPG and FRMT,

Litigation Support - Mr. Easlick is the most qualified expert witness regarding Fraternal Law Suits. As a lawyer and former litigator, he offers unique advice to counsel. Mr. Easlick does not try cases and is not seeking out litigation clients. His role is expert witness and consultant and his services include trial preparation, discovery preparation, review services, and other legal advice to litigation counsel.

Mr. Easlick is currently working with Humatec, Inc., a Kansas City Based Expert Witness Group. He is currently appearing in several cases on the plaintiff side, and he has successfully completed one case on the defendant side as well as five on the plaintiff side.

Tom Kline, the Piazza's attorney, is quoted as "It has always been the belief of the Piazzas that Tim Bream is a culpable party and shares responsibility for the death of their son. Our knowledge of his role continues to evolve as questions are asked."

As a result of the unfortunate recent bevy of fraternity hazing cases, I am coming out of Semi-Retirement to full time activity as an Expert Witness in Fraternity Litigation, primarily hazing suits. I am currently working on 6 active cases, with two additional settled.

I have been a member of a premiere American Fraternity since 1966 when I was initiated into DKE at the University of Michigan. I have run the local alumni association, been the general partner on the chapter house, served on the International Board, Founded the Foundation, and ran the Fraternity for over 25 years. Inter-fraternally, I am a life member of the Fraternity Executives Association, led the inter-fraternal movement against the Northeastern Private Colleges attempt to co-edify the movement, and shepherded a freedom of association sense of Congress through both Houses of Congress. I am still an affiliate member of the North American Inter-Fraternity Conference and a nonprofit member of NASPA.

With the Piazza case at Penn State dominating the news, and opinion leaders from all sides checking in and editorializing, I thought I might add a few suggestions of my own. I was involved in fraternity management from 1973 until 2013. I have held almost every leadership function in a national fraternity from the local alumni association to the national and to the foundation. I currently am an Expert Witness in Greek Life Hazing and Risk Management cases and am presently appearing in 8 cases ranging from hazing to sexual abuse.

I have been a member of a premiere American Fraternity since 1966 when I was initiated into DKE at the University of Michigan. I have run the local alumni association, been the general partner on the chapter house, served on the International Board, Founded the Foundation, and ran the Fraternity for over 25 years. Inter-fraternally, I am a life member of the Fraternity Executives Association, led the inter-fraternal movement against the Northeastern Private Colleges attempt to co-edify the movement, and shepherded a freedom of association sense of Congress through both Houses of Congress. I am still an affiliate member of the North American Inter-Fraternity Conference.

News of the tragic suicide of Marquise Braham and the resulting lawsuit against Penn State Altoona and Phi Sigma Kappa brought to the surface some very painful memories. Earlier in my career I spent several years as the Executive Director of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a midsize International fraternity founded at Yale in 1844. Five or six US Presidents have been members(FDR was a member of the Harvard Chapter which was thrown out for not paying dues). Deke, as it is known, was international in that it had a few Canadian chapters.

Dr. William L. Bainbridge, Ph.D., FACFE, is a Forensic Education Expert with extensive experience in School Related Accidents, Incidents, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, College Athletics/Sports Injuries and Title IX compliance. He is court qualified in Schooling, Education Standards, Policies, and is considered to an Expert in over 35 states.

Dr. Bainbridge currently serves as President and CEO of the SchoolMatch® Institute and as a Distinguished Research Professor at The University of Dayton.

Dr. Randall Atlas AIA , CPP is a Registered Architect, NCARB certified, and he practices Criminal Justice Architecture and Environmental Security Design. Atlas is a certified protection professional (CPP) with the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS), and is an appointed member of the ASIS Security Architecture and Engineering Committee. Atlas has his doctorate in criminology and a masters of architecture. Dr Atlas is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architecture for Justice Committee.

Dr. Atlas has taught CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) and criminal justice courses at Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Miami, Keiser University, and he is a trainer with the National Crime Prevention Institute at the University of Louisville. Dr. Atlas has been a technical Assistance consultant with the National Institute of Justice, National Institute of Corrections, and the Florida Department of Corrections and U.S. HUD Drug Elimination CPTED Program.

He has conducted ADA accessibility compliance audits for private and public sector clients, and served as an expert witness on over 200 premises liability lawsuits.

Dr. Atlas has been a speaker and trainer at security conferences from New Delhi, India to Seattle, Washington and has written over 200 articles in various publications on security, safety, and counter terrorism issues.

BETWEEN LATE 2009 AND MARCH OF THIS YEAR, a national baked goods chain with franchises in Broward County, Florida, experienced a series of nighttime burglaries that resulted in thousands of dollars in stolen cash and damaged property.

When it comes to the issue of safety in schools, it is important to remember that long before the students walk the halls, a design team creates the building and its grounds, envisioning the subsequent relationships with its occupants.

This is the first and only book of its kind dedicated to the contributions and importance of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). It will educate the reader and design professional on the necessity of CPTED in reducing risks, threats, and vulnerabilities of and to our built environment post-9/11…